Growth Happens in Cycles
The same challenge, new insights
Experience becomes wisdom when you look at her with more consciousness.
Editorial takeaway
My experience
In later conversations I distinguish three Olympic cycles: a first period of discovery and building, a second with profound doubts and setbacks, and a third in which I approach similar challenges more consciously.
Based on what I myself told in coaching conversations (2023–2025), editorially summarized. Source: Transcript, p. 1201 en 1204–1205.
The essential lesson
You can run into the same problem several times and learn something different from it each time. Repeat is not automatically stopped.
The core principle
Experience becomes wisdom when you look at her with more consciousness.
Apply it
Reflection questions
- 1What challenge keeps coming back in your life?
- 2What are you gonna do with it now?
- 3What cycle are you in today?
Editorial reflection questions, derived from the principle.
Practical exercise
- Draw three cycles out of your own life. Write down the central challenge per cycle and what you did differently with it.
Editorial application: Newly designed exercise, no literal source material.
My reflection
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My next step
Meet your Inner Team
The characters behind this principle
An interpretive layer on “Growth Happens in Cycles” — the story and lessons above stay the heart of the principle.
The Rebuilder
“I can begin again, from where I am.”
Brings: adaptability, patience
Watch for: rushing into a new plan without acknowledging grief, disappointment or the need for recovery
What could progress look like from my current reality?
The Explorer
“What else could teach me something?”
Brings: curiosity, creativity
Watch for: distraction
Where could I discover something valuable outside my usual environment?